The Obelisk [Paperback]

The front and back covers of this book should tell you all you need to know about its content.

The font is the same used for the TV show 24 and it's written by Howard Gordon, the show's executive producer, so you should have a pretty good idea of what to expect, if you've watched just one episode of the show.

Like 24, this is a non-stop page turner with bog standard heroes and villains. The set-pieces are elaborate, twists are fairly regular and the ending a little predictable. But, it's popcorn entertainment people! Suspend your disbelief and go with the flow.

I love the books of Matthew Reilly and Andy McDermott. They offer a welcome escape from the routine of life, and provide fiction that takes you to the action hero haven we all secretly long to visit. Howard Gordon offers the same escape and I will happily buy his next book.

Howard Gordon, debut novelist of this book was previously the executive producer of the hit US TV series 24. His UK publisher Simon and Schuster have exploited this fact to the max by presenting it's title in the orange digital clock style synonymous with the series, illustrating it with images in the split-screen style pioneered by 24 and emblazoning it not only with Gordon's credentials but with a quote from Kiefer Sutherland.

Before I get into the business of saying what I thought about this book, I want to say that I was an ardent, die-hard fan of 24, and watched the series through every mole in CTU, every failed love interest, every dead colleague, every disaster to ever befall Kim Bauer and every international crisis averted at the last second by one man wonder Jack Bauer. If this book is aimed at 24 fans and it apparently is then I'm who this book is aimed at.

Or, if you want to be more cynical in your thought process, and really, you should be, Simon and Schuster are exploiting the 24 angle in the shameless way that they are to lure the 24 box set buyers into also buying this. If it were just The Obelisk by some guy named Howard Gordon with no reference to his Hollywood career or association with one of the biggest TV series of the last decade, then this book would probably attract very little attention.

It is the story of Gideon, a UN peacemaker with the ear of the President, who is sent to bring in a rogue agent, who <shock> happens to be his own brother Tillman. Most of the action takes place on an oil rig The Obelisk. So far, so 24. 24 : Day 6 to be precise.

Here's were the similarity ends. With each episode of 24 you found yourself more compelled to see the next, the twists, the revelations, the tension. The silent clocks. Beloved characters suddenly getting bumped off in first episodes. 24, particularly in its early years was a master of : "You didn't see that coming!"

With The Obelisk it isn't that the story is necessarily bad, or even too much of a copycat, it's the fact that Gordon simply sucks as a prose writer. He may have contributed script to 24 episodes over the years but the man is no novelist. It is so cliched at times that it is cringeworthy. From writing cliches such as "that sinking feeling" and "punched in the stomach" to dialogue cliches "if she dies it'll be over my dead body" to plot cliches like the moment our hero has nearly been killed but his first instinct on meeting the heroine is to notice just how beautiful she is. The writing of the ending is so hideously terrible that you can only imagine that Gordon rushed it for a deadline. I've half a mind to spoil it seeing as I don't recommend for a moment you should rush out and read this book, but lets just say references are made to 'a double bed' and 'riding out the storm'. It is CHEESETASTIC.

Also, the villain's motives are decidedly implausible given his history with his targets, nonsensically so. I think that's the best word for the book: Nonsense. As a spy thriller, I'd say it belongs to the world of Lee Child and John Grisham type books but fans of those authors may be insulted. It may be an entertaining airport read for some for good or for so bad its good reasons. My loathing for Dan Brown novels is fairly well known and I'd say that saying this book belongs to The Dan Brown School Of Writing is the most damning verdict I can give it.

With regards to 24, this book can only ever be seen in a much lesser light, a critical light by comparison and so the publishers have somewhat shot themselves in the foot and set it up for failure. But even if there was no link to a hit Hollywood series, this would still be a bloody terrible book

This first time novel from a new author sounded good and even started off pretty good. Although I was skeptical about it, since it takes place mostly in and revolves around a fictional country, Howard Gordon did a good job describing the Sultanate of Mohan's political climate and geography and create a realistic and believable setting for his story. As someone who usually dislikes fictional countries, I quickly forgot the fact that Mohan didn't exist.

The tiny island is an important US ally in the Eastern Pacific and in danger of being overrun by a growing Islamic insurgency. The president sends in his special envoy and negotiator David Gideon who adamantly believes in peaceful mediation to resolve conflicts. Gideon is sent because, improbably, his brother, a rogue covert operator, is purportedly leading the insurgency in Mohan. But shortly after arriving on the island, Gideon is ambushed, the terrorists seize an oil rig, and it becomes clear there's a convoluted political conspiracy and a traitor driving events.

The best aspect of the novel is the lead character. There's countless thrillers with superhero secret agent assassins as the lead character. but Gideon is an academic, diplomat, and negotiator who does not believe in force or violence. Unfortunately, Gordon makes very little of any of this. Gideon spends of the book running through the jungle, evading terrorists, and then sneaking around the seized oil rig, all of which he perfectly capable of and adept at, surprising given that he is a career diplomat with a PHD from Princeton. In fact, he comes close to becoming just another Mitch Rapp/Scot Harvath clones, but with less violence and killing. The rest of the characters are completely forgettable and lifeless, just the usual cut-and-past thriller staples to fill pages and move the plot along.

Howard Gordon clearly knows how to pace a novel. Even though I wasn't particularly enthralled with the story and didn't care about any of the characters, I still kept turning the pages and read it through to the end.

The problem is that Gordon has previously written for television. And it shows. The story, plot development, and dialogue all feel like something out of a low-budget made-for-TV movie or a new pilot episode. The actions scenes aren't particularly well-written or developed, and especially the military scenes and terrorist-hostage scenes are filled with the usual stilted dialog and cliches found on TV. Most the characters are cardboard and straight out of typecasting. And, of course, there is a ticking clock until a bomb detonates and a devastating typhoon rolls in as tools to create suspense. None of the plot twists are particularly surprising or exciting. The revelation of the true villain/traitor and the villain's plot is all rather bland and unremarkable.

But it is fortunately fast paced and has an interesting lead character who has potential for greater things should the author write a sequel, and well-developed settings in Mohan and on a hijacked oil rig, which prevents me from giving this book a lower rating. It's by no means a must read first thriller from a new talent, but it is worth reading if you've already the new Tom Clancy novel, and even the new Vince Flynn novel for that matter.

This isn't a bad book. But it's not good either.